Pentecostalism grew out of Wesleyan Holiness movements at the turn of the 20th century in the United States. The movement first appeared in 1901 in Topeka, Kansas, and in 1906 in Los Angeles when the first Pentecostals began to “speak in tongues.” A form of unrepressed speech, this glossolalia involves speaking or singing in unintelligible syllables. Adherents claim that they “yield” themselves to the Lord. Normally the syllables they speak or sing are unintelligible, though some claim that they speak in recognizable foreign tongues as the disciples of Jesus did at the first Pentecost (Acts 2:14), from which the movement derives its name. Pentecostals believe that they must experience a “second baptism,” beyond water baptism, in which the Holy Spirit comes to them. They not only speak in tongues but interpret them; they prophesy; and many engage in healing, claiming that miraculous healing did not cease after the apostolic period, as many other Christians believe.

The Pentecostal movement in the United States developed among rural poor whites and urban blacks in the South. After the mid-20th century, fast-growing denominations like the Assemblies of God made Pentecostalism one of the most visible forms of Protestantism and became increasingly acceptable to the middle classes. After 1960 the movement spread into mainstream faiths like the Episcopal, Lutheran, and Presbyterian churches, where participants often called it a “charismatic” movement.

Pentecostalism had its greatest success in the Caribbean, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa. Many prophetic movements erupted there in which Christians adopted emotional forms of worship and healing. Pentecostalism in these parts of the world was often the religion of the poor, bringing hope to people in nations that were emerging from colonialism. Pentecostals built on the work of the missionaries of a century earlier and were often neither anti-American nor anti-European, as some liberation movements were. They often accented “otherworldliness” and avoided politics or identified with conservative and even repressive regimes.

Fundamentalism

The second major movement, Fundamentalism, combined late 19th-century premillennialism (the belief that Jesus will return before the millennium to usher in the messianic kingdom) with defenses of biblical inerrancy. It took its name from The Fundamentals, a series of tracts that were issued between 1910 and 1915 in the United States. In 1919 and 1920, Fundamentalism became a formal and militant party in denominational conflict in the United States.

The growth of Fundamentalism was due to the spread of both Darwinian evolutionary theory and higher criticism of the Bible, both of which found acceptance in liberal Protestant churches. Fundamentalists in the United States felt that these two movements subverted seminaries, bureaus, mission boards, and pulpits in the northern branches of various Protestant denominations. The Scopes trial in 1925, in which the Fundamentalist champion William Jennings Bryan fought against the teaching of evolution in schools and defended the Genesis record as being scientific, coincided with the climactic battles between liberals and fundamentalists in the mainstream Protestant churches.

Despite the setback at the Scopes trial, Fundamentalism exercised great influence on American life in the 20th century. It prospered most when it moved from political passivity to open participation, particularly in support of Ronald Reagan’s successful presidential bids in 1980 and 1984. Although the televangelist Pat Robertson was unsuccessful in his presidential run in 1988, Fundamentalists remained politically active in the 1990s, focusing on opposition to abortion, support for a constitutional amendment to permit prayer in public schools, a large military defense budget, and support for Israel. Fundamentalists also created a network of Bible colleges, radio and television programs, and publishing ventures. In the early 1940s they formed several rival organizations that steadily grew in numbers and assertiveness. In the later 20th century groups like Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority and Robertson’s 700 Club demonstrated the continued strength of the movement and the effectiveness of the television ministry.

Evangelicalism

The third movement, Evangelicalism, has been best represented by the ministry of Billy Graham and journals like Christianity Today. This group agrees with Fundamentalism on core doctrines such as the virgin birth, substitutionary atonement (that Christ’s suffering and death atoned for man’s sins), the physical resurrection of Jesus, and biblical inerrancy.

Although Evangelicals and Fundamentalists share a number of beliefs, they differ on an equal number of core teachings. Evangelical scholars, for example, doubt that accepting the doctrine of biblical inerrancy is the best way to assert their belief in biblical authority. Many Evangelicals also reject the premillennialism that is popular with Fundamentalists. Evangelicals differ in style, too, and often find Fundamentalists too negative in their attitudes about culture, too withdrawn into sects, too blustery and judgmental. When the National Association of Evangelicals formed in 1942, the Fundamentalist right mounted the same sort of attack on it that had been used against the mainstream moderates and liberals. Most Evangelicals preferred to see themselves not as Fundamentalists but as perpetuators of the 19th-century Protestant mainstream.

To that end the Evangelicals gradually entered the world around them. They became involved in liberal arts colleges rather than building Bible schools, engaged in social programs, and criticized conservative Protestantism’s overidentification with militarism and unfettered capitalism. They also acquired considerable if unpredictable political power in the United States and elsewhere.

Evangelicals were also ecumenical; Graham welcomed Catholic and mainstream Protestant leaders on his platforms, and he prayed with many kinds of Christians whom Fundamentalists would shun. Whereas Fundamentalists and Pentecostalists had counterparts in the Third World, Evangelicals tended to form international movements and hold conferences designed to bring Christians of many nations together. While Fundamentalists usually split off into churches of their own, Evangelicals remained connected to mainstream denominations and increasingly moved fully into the mainstream. Nevertheless they always endeavoured to keep alive their doctrinal distinctiveness and their passion for witnessing for Christ.